Summer Drummer

By far the largest perennial leek, its pseudostems can grow up to 80 cm tall.

They emerge early, grow rapidly, reach an impressive size, and flower remarkably late.

Its inflorescences are just as spectacular: they can reach up to 17 cm in diameter, carried on purple flower stalks reaching 2.20 m in height, making it arguably the tallest leek of all!

They are very easy to grow, resistant to diseases and pests, and are rated by the RHS as hardy down to approximately -15 °C.

Each plant produces two large cloves, along with 4-5 large corms with weak dormancy, making them useful for propagation.

Most often sold simply as “Allium”, Summer Drummer is in fact an 𝐴. 𝑎𝑚𝑝𝑒𝑙𝑜𝑝𝑟𝑎𝑠𝑢𝑚 × 𝐴. 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑚𝑢𝑡𝑎𝑡𝑢𝑚; it is sterile and almost certainly hexaploid.

This cultivars was selected by the Dutch breeder Wieste Mellema in the early 2000s.